SBC Hardware Review: SJGAM M17 SBC Handheld
The M17 is a low budget single board computer (SBC) handheld commonly sold on AliExpress for ~$30. It features up to 128GB of storage space via a micro SD card. It also has all the basic controls needed to play all games up to the PS1 and PSP era except for the dual screens and capacitive touch screens of the DS and 3DS and PS Vita. The screen is of moderate size, and the colors are vivid and brights are bright... but dark colors get a bit muddy and washed out when playing in a brightly lit room or outside in the sunlight. Filming the screen can also be a bit challenging since it has no video out capability and bright colors may appear to bleed in photos. To the naked eye, the bleed issue is not apparent, and the screen looks great... if a bit small.
This thing is the perfect size to enjoy classic consoles' libraries like the GBA and the SNES as well as classic handhelds' libraries. It even plays PSP games somewhat well. Unfortunately, while it sports a selection of PS1 and N64 games, the PS1 games are hit-or-miss, usually miss, and the N64 emulator runs like hot garbage, which is to say it melts the system and drains its battery quite fast. What it plays best are Gameboy selections and anything else from those eras, but it does well enough to run most PSP games, and it can kind of run PS1 if only for a short while before draining its battery.
The battery may seem like my biggest complaint, but it's not. This system comes with a 2000MHz battery that recharges via USB-C. Recharging is fast, and the battery drains quite slowly when not playing 3D games or the N64 emulator and keeping the screen brightness below 50%, which is plenty bright for me unless I go outside. The device also can charge during use, but be careful doing so, because the USB-C port is on the top, adding strain to both the port and the cable. The port feels sturdy, though, and I doubt it'll break for a while.
There are some major limitations to this hardware. It's not extremely versatile. Inputs are limited to very basic controls, but there is a secondary joystick if you want to use it, which is handy for fantasy consoles (which this thing can't run) but not so handy for any of the emulators you can actually use on this hardware. Basically, the second joystick is useless as anything other than a A/B/X/Y alternative. There's no Bluetooth controller support and no video out. I tried booting an empty SD on it, and it loaded some basic demo games which reminded me of the rather limited 90s phone games. I tried copying the SD contents to the new SD and still somehow had a no-boot scenario.
I'm
not really fond of showcasing piracy like it's a good thing, because it
does legit present problems for businesses. However, if you bought this
system for any reason, it's likely to either play whatever random games
are included (and there are a ton of games included) or to play your own
personal library of game backups. I'm here to confirm it makes
emulating early consoles extremely easy and is a great experience for
those new to SBCs. The firmware is not open source, so you're limited by the firmware's installed emulators. This system will play Genesis/Megadrive, NES, SNES, GBA, GBC, some arcade roms, and a lot of other 2D platforms. It also has N64, PS1 and PSP support, but it doesn't run those games well enough to call them enjoyable. However, it will not allow you to install Pico-8 or any custom or updated emulators, and that means you can't run media players on it. My primary use case for this thing was going to be a handheld Kodi system, but it looks like that will be impossible.
Should you buy a M17? Well, that's a complicated question. I'd say no, but it's cheap, and if your budget doesn't allow for something slightly more expensive, this is a really good retro console handheld. It just won't do 3D games well and has some quirks you may not like. It also doesn't allow you to install anything without hacking the firmware, which I'm currently unsure how to accomplish. If you have a Nintendo Switch you hardly ever use, you may want to consider getting a "RCM loader" for that instead, which will allow you to hack the Switch with a custom firmware and do all kinds of things, from running emulators to installing kodi and watching movies to running fantasy consoles. Alternatively, if you have a really high end Android phone, the best solution is to put Lemuroid on there and consider buying ePSXe for Android specifically for PS1 titles. You could also get an EasySMX M10 for ~$25 on AliExpress or get its big brother, the M15 for ~$50 on Amazon and use that with your phone to turn it into a Switch-like system.
Of course, if you already have a handheld PC like a Steam Deck or a Lenovo Legion Go, there's really no reason to look elsewhere. Use the hardware you got. Legion Go is incredible for emulation seeing as it's on Windows 11 and can run a lot of emulators out-of-box. It works well on a 4K TV and can extend its display to such a screen quite easily using a docking station similar to what you'd see for a Nintendo Switch. If you got the funds, treat yourself to the 2TB model of the Legion Go and you'll be able to do a lot of really awesome things, including playing some modern games on the go.
Good luck with your retro gaming, friends!